The present invention relates to a display device suitable as an internal illumination type mark plate for an automobile or the like.
Often in recent automobiles a symbol mark, indicating the manufacturer or model of the vehicle, is illuminated at night not only to improve the external appearance and the recognition of the automobile but also to emphasize the luxuriousness of the vehicle and to distinguish it from others. A conventional display device for displaying a symbol mark in this manner employs a half-silvered mirror with which during the daytime external light (sunlight) is reflected so that the symbol looks as it were a metallic mark and which at night is used for rear illumination.
An example of a conventional display device, namely, a mark plate, is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In these figures, reference numeral 1 designates a display panel made of a translucent material such as transparent resin, smoked resin or glass, and 2, mark regions (display regions) provided on the rear surface of the display panel 1. The rear surface of the display panel 1, except for the display regions 2 is covered with a light shielding film layer 3 which is, for instance, black in color, thus providing a background color layer 4. Suitable colored layers 5 are formed over the mark regions 2.
Further in FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 6 designates a light source for illuminating the mark regions 2 from behind, and 7, a mirror body provided behind the display board 1 which supports the light source 6.
If, in the conventional mark plate, the display panel 1 is large, then it is difficult to uniformly illuminate the mark regions 2 in their entirety. On the other hand, in the conventional mark plate of the back illumination type, the thickness is considerably large, and a part accommodating the external wiring protrudes rearward, thus further increasing the thickness of the mark plate. Thus, there has been a strong demand for reducing the thickness of the mark plate.